


May I take your order?

by FancyMeetingYouHere



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Jackson needs self-esteem, M/M, Mark's awkward but cool, Soulmates, a little thing because soulmate AU's are brilliant, smidgen of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22438567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancyMeetingYouHere/pseuds/FancyMeetingYouHere
Summary: Having your soulmate's first words go from black to colored when you meet them is all well and good, unless they're so generic that it's like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles, but you're also surrounded by dozens of stacks and have no clue where to start looking.Because why would soulmarks ever make anything easier, right?
Relationships: Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang
Comments: 16
Kudos: 154





	May I take your order?

At eighteen, Mark wakes up with his soulmate’s first words to him written in thick block-letters on his outer thigh. To say he’s underwhelmed would be putting it lightly as he traces the black words in the mirror and thinks maybe, just maybe, the universe has it out for him.

How the hell is he ever supposed to find his soulmate with nothing but a _coffee order?_ Because it says, clear as day;

**One large americano, please**

For two long and sulky weeks, Mark whines at anyone who will listen (his sisters and mother) and then sets out to find a job as a barista.

(Because Mark has been in love with his soulmate from the age of ten, utterly entranced with the idea someone on this world is made just for him, will love him even though he’s quiet and weird and thinks back-flipping in the school hallway is perfectly acceptable to get out of an awkward social situation.

Mark wants to meet his soulmate, and the universe’s annoying sense of humor isn’t going to stop him.)

* * *

Jackson stares at his soulmate mark for a full five minutes before he starts twisting and turning to try and find his _real_ one. Because surely the squiggly words on his left sternum are a joke, probably put there by his brother while he was sleeping. But no matter how much he looks, or rubs at his skin to see if the letters will smudge or come off, nothing else magically appears. So Jackson stares some more and lets out a very heartfelt groan.

First off, they’re in English. Which isn’t horrible considering Jackson’s pretty good with languages and English came relatively natural to him in school, but he’s disheartened by the fact it’s so obviously a response to something he _orders_ , in a shop or a restaurant, which means Jackson is either trying to find that _one_ foreigner in China who works in a shop _without_ being able to speak Mandarin, or Jackson’s going to have to go a little further than the boundaries of this city to find them.

He thunks his head into the wall and sighs, glaring at the innocent words.

**That’ll be 5,30.**

(Jackson ends up crossing the pacific on a fencing scholarship when he’s nineteen, spending all of his funds in little shops, cafes and restaurants on things which _always_ cost 5,30. His friends are convinced he’s vain and self-absorbed because Jackson never fails to carry a little mirror around (because he's obsessively checking the words on his sternum for any hint of color after every purchase) and their teasing only worsens when they find out _why._

Jackson doesn’t care, _can’t care_ , because he’s never found anyone who wants to be his friend for more than six months, never met anyone who didn’t eventually call him ‘fake’ and ‘too much’ and left.

But his soulmate won’t be like that, Jackson tells himself desperately. His soulmate will stay with Jackson, will _want_ to stay with Jackson, and if that means he’s always buying things he doesn’t need or like, then he doesn’t mind at all.

Because Jackson wants to meet his soulmate more than anything, and every day he hopes his soulmate wants to meet him too.)

(After three years, Jackson gets scared. It shouldn’t take this long, right? It shouldn’t be this difficult, right? What if he’s still in the wrong country? There are many countries with English speakers, many places where his soulmate could be waiting with ‘that’ll be 5,30’.

Jackson starts to check later and later, starts to forget sometimes, starts to think that maybe his soulmate won’t like him if he’s loud and annoying and always running from place to place in infinite curiosity.

Jackson thinks that maybe the universe is keeping his soulmate hidden because Jackson doesn’t deserve them.)

* * *

Saturday afternoon is always the worst. Throngs of people enter the small-ish corner Starbucks; shoppers and working people alike, along with a good helping of students. Luckily, after nearly four years of experience as a barista, Mark has become insanely adept at dealing with five orders in a single minute.

Also, the more people that come in, the bigger the chances Mark will meet his elusive americano-ordering soulmate. He’s come close to giving up a few times over the past four years, but blame it on his curiosity or his stubbornness, he’s never managed to stop.

Doesn’t mean it gets any less embarrassing to slip into the back every chance he gets after someone speaks the words on his thigh to see if they changed color. But, Mark deals with it.

So far today, there have been three people who might, conceivably, be his soulmate. One older man with a neatly trimmed grey beard and full suit who was a tophat and walking cane away from having walked straight out of the fifties, a boy of around Mark’s age with Asian features, a tired smile and a hand full of change (Mark added a third shot to the order, free of charge. The boy looked like he needed it. Also, he was cute and Mark’s very bisexual when it comes to cute boys, so there.), and lastly a mother with two young girls who smiled brightly at Mark and kept shooting him looks.

Mark knows which one he prefers, but is almost certain the universe isn’t about to start doing him favors now. He eyes the long line with a small sigh, then dives back in with a smile and a nod, trying not to forget the faces of those who order his mark. It starts to become difficult after number six (two girls, one grandmother) and Mark surreptitiously taps Daniel’s side. (“My birth name is Im Changkyun,” the younger boy admits after two weeks with a small smile, “but I’m getting a little tired of people butchering it to the point of no return, so just, use Daniel, ‘kay? That way no one else gets any funny ideas.”)

The younger turns with a raised eyebrow, then huffs out a silent laugh. “Bathroom?” he grins.

Mark nods with a grin of his own and pats the younger’s shoulder in thanks as he slips into the back. Changkyun is one of two co-workers who know about Mark’s soulmark. The boy pokes fun at him for it, but ultimately covers for all his little trips to the back.

(Changkyun has his own **A mint tea, please** curled around his bicep. The placement became clear when about a month back a boy with the body of a Greek god and the smile of a bunny shoved his wrist in Changkyun’s face and let out a loud and joyful ‘it’s you!’

Mark will never forget the stunned face of Changkyun, trying, and failing, to hide his blush, or the fact that for a very jealous second, Mark wished it was him staring at his soulmate like that.)

Mark needs to shove his pants halfway down his thighs, then wriggle his boxers up to reveal the letters. He’s done it enough time to do it without looking and to be fast, which means he’s already re-dressing out of habit before he gasps and yanks his boxers up _again_.

The letters have turned a bright, sky-blue.

Mark doesn’t breathe, eyes wide and fingers tracing the words. Then he lets out a high laugh. Within seconds he’s dressed, trying to run through all the people who ordered an americano and wondering if he can _find them_ somehow. For someone who has had four years to figure out how to do this, Mark has done very little thinking about how to _find_ his soulmate, he now realizes, and his heart sinks as he imagines them getting further and further away.

“Mark!” Changkyun pokes his head around the door, and Mark thinks it’s probably all over his face because Changkyun just grins. “I think you should come out here. He came back.”

There’s really only one _he_ that Changkyun can be talking about as the younger's eyes shoot to Mark’s hip in utter glee, and Mark is pushing past him within milliseconds, breathlessly whispering “please, don’t be old, don’t be-”

And, _oh sweet jezus._

Mark stops at the counter, swallowing the lump in his throat and taking back _every bad thought ever_.

Cute Asian guy stands at the counter, the rest of the customers giving him raised eyebrows and soft smiles, but Mark can only focus on the wringing hands, the denim jacket, and the lip being worried.

Mark’s soulmate is, in one word, gorgeous. He wracks his brain for the name this cutie gave with his order and smiles wide when he remembers. “Jackson.”

Said boy licks his lips and smiles, tight lipped. “That’s me,” he answers nervously, then taps his sternum. “They-uh, they’re blue.”

Mark sorta feels like he’s floating, unbothered by the hubbub going on around them and smiling so much his face hurts. He pats his thigh. “I know,” he giggles and maybe he should tone down the joy bubbling in his chest, but _Jackson is his soulmate_.

Jackson’s eyes go wide and shoot from Mark’s hip to his face, then he’s blurting out. “I’m pretty loud, and annoying sometimes. I talk a lot, although sometimes I just shut up for no reason and don’t say anything. I’ve got tons of energy but still can’t feel myself getting tired so I crash and get super clingy.”

Mark feels his smile soften, eyes this boy who’s so nervous and honest and _stunning_. He takes a step closer and hops onto the counter, spinning on his butt with his knees drawn up, then slides off right next to Jackson. The other has shut up, looking him up and down with a hint of wonder, and Mark shrugs still smiling.

“I give zero shits about social conformity, so stop trying to scare me off.”

Jackson’s blush makes Mark giggle again.

“Seriously, though,” Mark quirks an eyebrow, “we quite literally have a natural affinity to _match._ And, yes, I want to know everything about you, but there's nothing you can say that'll make me leave. I stuck with being a barista for four years because I wanted to find you, so there's no way you're ever getting rid of me.”

Jackson stares like he’s seeing him for the first time, then gives Mark a smile so breath-taking it makes Mark’s heart hurt.

“Jackson Wang,” he holds out his hand, and Mark takes it without hesitation.

“Mark Tuan.”

Jackson holds on a tad longer and his eyes search Mark’s face. “My god, my soulmate’s gorgeous,” Jackson breathes, then immediately goes red and Mark giggles again, feeling his own cheeks heat up as well.

With a wink he leads Jackson to a table, adding warmly. “See? You're already reading my mind.”


End file.
